"Sensational Sunday" Leaving Smallville

We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small but you’re living them in a small way…Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!” (2 Corinthians 6:12,13 The Message Bible)

“The smallness you feel comes from within you”. Ooh, what an indictment. So we have no one else to blame. Before we blamed it on what side of the tracks we were born on or whether anyone in our family tree ever went to college, Mommy or Daddy, alcoholism or drugs,a broken heart. Our pain and disappointment fenced us in. Here, Paul, paraphrased by Eugene Peterson, says the constriction is internal, not external. “Your lives aren’t small but you’re living them in a small way” What a waste of good potential. God who is big enough to fill the universe is also small enough to live within our hearts. So faith capacity shouldn’t be at issue. No need to stay in "Smallville" forever.

Here we are living in Smallville, the town "Plano" Illinois. Not living within the limits we sometimes place on the Living God, You've done it, I've done it. We limit God at times based on our own personal inventory of disappointment, When plan "A" failed and plan "B" fell short we went to Plan "o" Plano. Disappointment may be divine re-appointment. Where is God is calling out to you to trust him? To live expansively and open? Believe me, Life has become anything but plain in Plano.

You have to SEE it to BE it. Maybe you can't fit a new house into your faith because of a bankruptcy, divorce or your not making enough money but if you can see it,visualize the impossible, call something out of nothing,it can happen. Can you fit whatever you desire into your inner man? Once your spirit-man has caught the vision the rest will be history,Then God and you can make history.

What can you fit into your inner man? Will a new house fit in there? Is it wide enough to accommodate opening up a business, taking that vacation to Europe, or drawing up blueprints for a ten-thousand seat sanctuary instead of five-hundred seat? I’m stretching the elastic to accommodate my life for a few faith "things" like a new lawn mower. Well, you have to start somewhere. Seldom does a man sit in the cockpit of the plane until he has first visualized it. That is called a flight simulator. No red cape under the suit? The Bible is a faith simulator (and stimulator). When you see what Paul could do, what Peter could do, what Jesus did, your own faith is stirred with that motivation that voices, “I can do that!” Capacity stretches and moves you on to the Big "Metropolis" of "I can do "...

Time to leave "Smallville"
What you couldn’t do at sixteen doesn’t determine what you can or cannot do at thirty-five, forty five even seventy five. Paul said, “We didn’t fence you in”. We are our own worst enemies. We dig our own post holes, pour in the sack of Quick-crete to secure the base then string the wires of our own defeat. We build our own walls of doubt, fear and insecurity. Blame it on a lack of collateral, lack of mother’s affection when we were small, lack of education or lack of whatever, but usually it is more a lack of spine, lack of vision or lack of temper.“Winners are just ex-losers that got mad”. Our spiritual “insides” will stretch or shrink just like the spare tire under the ribcage, according to what we feed it. Faith has to be fed a strong diet of God's Word, the promises of God. Once you can see yourself at the wheel of that new car or holding the keys to your new house, then you can free yourself to believe enough to SOAR…or whatever else you think God desires for you.
Leave"Smallville" the smallville of your doubt and God may lead you where you never could have imagined he would.

Nuff Said,

The Top 10 things Noah Might Say

By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household…” (Hebrews 11:7)

Been Experiencing quite a bit of rain lately,Time to dust this one off.

Hey Noah, could you impart a little age-old wisdom? Well, if he had a talk show- Letterman style what might make his top 10? Here's a good guess.

1. We’re all in the same boat. Pentecostals,Charismatics,Assemblies of God,Covenant,Church of God,We all use different oars but we are all in the same boat and there's an odd smell in here-I think its coming from the Pentecostals.

2. Plan ahead;Its good to have a Home Depot credit card in your wallet. After all, it wasn’t raining when I built the ark.

3. Stay fit. When 600 years old you reach look as good you will not.Hmmm? You may be asked to do something really big like save the world? If I could do it, YOU have no business pouting about crossing the fifty hump.

4. Don’t listen to critics. Everyone in town thought the Ark idea was a big joke, certainly a poor idea. Too bad for them Michael Phelps wasn't around.

5. For safety sake, travel in pairs. Jesus sent His disciples out in pairs. I brought in the animals in pairs.It seems to be working for the Mormons and JW'S.Two are better than one,We is stronger than me.

6. Snails got on board with the cheetahs. Doctrine and Speed isn’t the issue, faithfulness is.(He that endures to the end) Inch by inch even the inchworm made it in time. there's room enough for everyone-Except for the Pentecostals-they have their own boat

7. When stressed, float awhile. I couldn't’ change the trajectory of the storm outside but I could trust God and adjust my sails.Try to control the environment inside (except for that smell!) If you can't, then just play phase 10.

8. The ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals. (Cue Celine Dion) Christ’s salvation is simple; not elaborate. Sometimes a raft serves a better purpose than a submarine. Simplify....and don't be afraid to get wet.

9. Woodpeckers inside are a greater threat than the storm outside. Be careful who you invite on board because you’ll have to put up with them the whole trip.

10. God really does have a sense of humor, considering what a platypus looks like.

If you are at your wits end don't worry,there is a rainbow coming after the rain. No matter how severe the storm God comes through with signs to steady and assure the heart. Tomorrow is bright. Noah knows. His story is one of great faith. After he had done all he was commanded to do then God took over and did what he could not do. Sure being on the Ark was tough with a lot of responsibility.A lot of mouths to feed.Maybe even lonely at times.It seemed the storm might never end.Dry land no where to be found.Be faithful,trust God,you will land where God wants you and when you do he will open the doors to your future. Make sure friend that you are “in Christ” because the only security we have is found in Jesus. Pharaoh sunk like led to the bottom of the sea but Noah’s faith, like a bulging inner tube, lifted him and his family up above the cresting waves. The cream always raises to the top and so do people of faith. The only question however that I want to ask Noah when I finally do get to see him is, why did he not squash those two mosquitoes? Maybe the insects survived on their own? At least he needs to explain why he let that pair of squirrels on board.Maybe to spark a revival? Oh I know, he had to obey everything he was commanded but did that have to include saving the the platypus's? In that he is the Marlon Perkins of his day and a perfect model for faith. In this hour when another catastrophic storm seems inevitable and talk shows are a dime a dozen we could sure use a few more men like Noah.........

Nuff Said,

FAITH FILLED FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buried Between Zorah and Eshtaol

"Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took Samson, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol " (Judges 16.31)

Slaying thousands upon thousands of Philistines Samson was a one man wrecking crew.The bible version of the Incredible Hulk except he didn't turn green and it wasn't gamma rays that made him strong.Most of his life was lived "between Zorah and Eshtaol" and that would be his burial place as well .Whats the significance? Read on. As a boy I remember watching the Cecile b Demile 1949 epic version of Samson and Delilah.It starred Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr.Based on bible story right out of Judges chapter 16. Some of the dialog, although not biblically recorded rings true to this day.

Delilah: I hate him.
Delilah's Father: Because he's a Danite?
Delilah: Because he's a fool!
Delilah's Father: Most men are, Delilah. There's nothing you can do about it. Delilah:Sometimes a bee can move an ox.

The little foxes spoil the vine.Solomon was not referring to Victoria Secret models.We Christian singles are not to be unequally yoked (2 Corinthians 6:14) A yoke is only effective when the yokeese (is that a word?) are moving in the same direction.Don't be unequally yoked or the joke will be on you and you'll be walking on eggshells instead of sunshine. Samson’s presumption was his greatest danger. He’d gotten off scot-free so many times. He would play games with the Philistines then rely on his strength to get him out of a tough jam. Fatally, Samson told Delilah the secret to his strength, she lopped off his lovely locks then when he woke up from a nap on her lap, the jig was up.
When I was a boy my Father would take me for a haircut.The day of the dreaded,abominable military style CREW CUT! No Fantastic Sam's,no Super Cuts,It was always the same old guy that smelled like Old Spice aftershave...yuk I still hate that aroma.As my curly locks hit the floor my eyes would water.."Old Spice the Barber" would give me a lollipop and the sweetness of candy made up for the fact that I looked like Curly from the 3 Stooges.The next day I was subjected to teasing. Somehow praise God I made it through,no permanent damage.Now I know why I was always being saluted.

Because Samson was a lone child and “special” his parents didn’t put any restraints on him. Electric chairs are seldom needed where highchairs are properly used.The downward spiral of Samson's life began when he failed to take the Nazarite vow for himself. Don't live on your parents convictions or hairstyles.Settle sin issues or you will find yourself between between sin and the sting of its consequence or between a rock and a hard place...well, you get the picture.Whatever pleased Samson was what Samson got. Soon the lust, near disaster, escape, repent, start over, lust, near disaster and escape routine began to spiral out of control. Just because Samson was “special” didn’t mean he enjoyed a special set of rules. Sin's stinger pricks and is painful to extract.The first forty steps in the dark are fine but then there is the cliff. The unthinkable happened to Sammy, the young man had to pay the piper. He could no longer pull off a Houdini.He lost his sight – the blinding, his freedom – the binding, and his dignity – the grinding.If you are dealing with sin's sting in your life,God's grace will restore your strength and heal the wound.God could have raised up another Samson;He didn't because the call of God never left Sam.He left the call of God and wound up buried between Zorah and Eshtaol " A Strong woman and a Hornets Nest".......


Eshtaol in Hebrew means "strong woman"......
Zorah was a valley "full of wasps"

Nuff said,